Field
The present disclosure relates generally to networking and, more particularly, to method, system and apparatus for an OpenFlow hybrid architecture network device.
Introduction
Increasing demands are being placed upon the data communications infrastructure. These increasing demands are driven by various factors, including the increasing bandwidth requirements of Internet multimedia applications (e.g., distribution of news, financial data, software, video, audio and multi-person conferencing, etc). To accommodate the increasing bandwidth requirements, communication link speeds have also continued to evolve. For example, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports are commonly used for I/O on many of today's network switches.
Management of these data communication networks is becoming increasingly difficult as static, hierarchical network switch architectures have difficulty adapting to the dynamic needs of the data communication network. For example, traffic patterns are increasingly complex as virtualization and cloud computing services continue to grow in application. Moreover, access to these services must also consider the increasing usage of mobile computing devices such as smart phones and tablets. In general, these various factors create an environment where an increasing premium is being placed on effective management of a data communications infrastructure.